


Ocean Eyes

by jacenbren



Series: Jacen’s MCSM collection [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Animal Death, Blood and Injury, I kept imagining mermaid Jesse so here yall go, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Merman Jesse, Mild Sexual Content, Past Character Death, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-27 08:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21388843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacenbren/pseuds/jacenbren
Summary: Lukas has never believed in the supernatural.Yet, that night in the storm, he was sure he was going to die, but a merman saved his life.
Relationships: Jesse/Lukas (Minecraft)
Series: Jacen’s MCSM collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831039
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	Ocean Eyes

He’s in danger. 

The sea is churning. Lukas clings to the railing of his fishing boat for dear life, terrified as thunder booms and stinging waves of saltwater slam into him. 

There’s a deafening  _ crack  _ as the hull hits the reef.

Then he’s in the water, too weak to swim, too weak to fight the waves that toss him about like a small child playing with a doll.

Only less innocent, he thinks, as water fills his lungs. 

For the first time in his twenty-four years of living, he feels a cold, aching sense of certainty and clarity. 

He’s going to die. 

Then there are arms around him. 

Smooth, muscular arms that bring him to the surface and tow him to the shore.

He feels gentle hands on him, resting over his face, and then he’s coughing and choking up mouthfuls of water. 

When his coughing subsides, he sees the face of a young man his age leaning over him, curiosity in his luminous green eyes, highlighted by a flash of lightning in the stormy sky. 

Then his consciousness fades. 

———

In the hospital, he keeps wondering how he was rescued. 

Lukas only remembers pieces. 

Green eyes. 

Dark umber skin.

Strong arms around his waist. 

But he knows, he just  _ knows  _ that his rescuer wasn’t human. 

———

He goes back to fishing as soon as the doctors clear him. 

Days, then weeks pass as Lukas sinks back into his comfortable routine of going out at dawn, setting his nets, then coming back out at dusk to bring them in. 

That’s the second time he sees him. 

Or the first time, if you’re counting clarity.

Lukas sees a sparkling flash of iridescent blue just below the surface.

He gasps, and abandons his net. 

Then a person breaks the surface, or at least what looks like one. 

“Why are you still coming out here?”

Lukas recognizes those eyes. 

The being has the upper body of a young man. He’s lean but muscular, with dark and curly hair and brown, lightly freckled skin. His face is round but not childish, but he still looks curious like one. His green eyes reflect the light from the setting sun, giving him a slightly catlike appearance. 

From the waist down, he’s different. His umber skin shifts to shimmering blue scales, which form an elegant fish’s tail that waves below the surface. There are gills just above his hips, Lukas notices, and then he sees that the being’s fingers are webbed, and there’re patches of scales on his cheekbones and shoulders and forearms. 

“What are you?” Lukas asks. 

“Merman,” the being replies. “You almost died here. Why do you keep coming back if you know you could die?”

Lukas pauses. 

He’s never believed in the supernatural, and yet, there’s an actual merman in the water next to his boat.

The merman who saved his life. 

“Well,” Lukas says. “I need to. It’s how I make my living. I need to catch fish and sell them.”

The merman frowns. 

“You humans have been causing problems,” he says. “Your nets catch us. Your plastic and garbage fills the waters and kills our home. You fish until there’s none left. I’ve been following fishing boats that do these things and try to sink them. But I’ve been following you for months, and yet I’ve never seen a single piece of trash fall off your boat, and you always move to a different area every other week. You almost always use a sail, unless it’s too windy or not windy enough. Why are you different?”

Lukas thinks back to the days he was in school. He’d always been fond of the sea and had always wanted to be part of a conservation group, but he had also always had a passion for fishing and never enough money.

So he did what he could, only using biodegradable nets, only using the engines if he had to, never fishing in the same place for too long and making sure garbage was locked in a can in the cabin so it couldn’t fall overboard. 

“I like the ocean,” he said. “I think it’s pretty. I want that to be around for my kids, if I have them. Grandkids, too.”

The merman nods thoughtfully. 

“I’ve never met a human like you.”

They end up talking late into the night, and Lukas learns his name. 

Jesse.

———

He ends up talking to Jesse many times after that. 

In the weeks that follow, Jesse shows him many good fishing spots he never knew of and tells him about the merfolk, and in turn Lukas tells him about life on the surface. 

“What’s this?” Jesse asks as Lukas ties his boat up on a boulder sitting at the edge of a small cove where they usually meet, on a small beach next to the opening of a grotto. 

Lukas chuckles and wades ashore, carrying his cooler. 

Merfolk, he learned, can shapeshift into a humanoid form, giving them legs and feet and the ability to walk, even though they hardly, if ever, go on land. Right now, Jesse’s laying on the sand, wearing nothing but the navy blue swim shorts Lukas brought him one day, the setting sun glinting off the blue scales on his shins and thighs. 

Lukas swallows nervously. 

He’s beautiful. 

He looks away, opening the cooler, and pulls out a container of ice cream. 

Jesse brightens as soon as he tastes it.

“Woah,” he says, licking his lips and devouring it. “It’s cold. And it’s sweet, and AH!”

Jesse yelps and grabs his head. 

Lukas laughs. “That’s called brain freeze, Jesse. You won’t get it if you don’t eat it that fast.”

Jesse slowly sets his empty bowl back in the cooler like it’s a stick of dynamite. 

They end up talking again. 

“You have any family?” Lukas asks. “I don’t, really. My dad died in a car accident when I was little, and then my mom got cancer when I was fifteen, so I had to live with my aunt until I could move out.”

Jesse winces. “My mom died when she got caught in an old fishing net when she was trying to escape a wild reef shark.”

“Is that why you hate humans?” Lukas asks. “You hold a grudge?”

Jesse nods, his expression turning bitter. 

“Dad was never the same. Four years ago, when I was nineteen, he tried to attack the fishing boat that dropped the net overboard. He swam too close to the propeller, and…”

Lukas shudders. 

“There was barely enough of him left to bury,” Jesse says icily. “I’ve been hunting fishing boats since. I know how to tip one over easy and make it look like it capsized, how to kill the crew with my trident and make it look like the work of pirates. I’ll protect my home at any cost.”

Lukas hesitates. 

“Well,” he says. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but why did you bother to help me?”

Jesse sighs. “You were different. I saw you fishing pieces of trash from the water whenever you could reach them. You don’t use those terrible, noisy engines unless you have to. I even cut a piece of your net, and it degraded in only a few months.”

Lukas chuckles. “I have to replace them more and they cost a fortune, but it’s definitely worth it.”

Jesse nods. “Anyway, I changed my mind. I didn’t want to kill you because you set a good example, and maybe others would adopt your mannerisms and try to fish like you. And then the storm, and I saw you fall out, and I couldn’t let the best fisherman I’d ever seen just die.”

Lukas suddenly feels a warm, fluttery feeling as Jesse lays a hand on his wrist.

“I’m… flattered,” he blurts, staring at Jesse’s knuckles, his elegant fingers and the pale blue webbing between them. 

———

The day finally comes when Jesse agrees to come on land. 

They do a lot of things that day. They drive around Kihei, and up to the summit of Mount Haleakalā, then hike through a bamboo forest. Then they get more ice cream and sit in the shade of a palm tree, watching the sunset, and finally go to a restaurant to get some good old-fashioned human-made food. 

“Holy mother,” Jesse mumbles through a mouthful of brisket. “This is amazing.”

Lukas laughs. 

Jesse somehow looks adorable with barbecue sauce all over his face. 

Then the waitress comes by with the check, giving Jesse’s scales a sideways glance. She shrugs, and turns to Lukas. 

“Would you two like to split the tab?” She asks. “Or are you two together?”

_ Together.  _

That word sends a blush shooting into Lukas’s cheeks. 

“I’m paying,” he says. 

“Alrighty,” the waitress says, setting the check down. “Whenever you’re ready. I hope you two enjoy your date!”

Lukas freezes, blushing even more. 

Jesse giggles, wolfing down the rest of his fries. “You look so adorable when your face turns red like that,” he says. 

“Is this a date?” Lukas blurts.

“If you want it to be,” Jesse says with a nonchalant shrug. 

Lukas remembers how when they got a tourist to take their picture up on the top of the volcano, how Jesse had casually wrapped an arm around him. 

He’d felt… good. 

Later, under the cover of darkness, they slip down to the beach. Lukas looks up at the moon as Jesse pulls off the clothes he lent him and wades out.

Lukas can’t help following him. 

“You have a fun time?” He asks, up to his waist in the surf, his pants soaked. 

Jesse’s green eyes flash in the moonlight. 

“Yeah,” he says. 

Then something very unexpected happens. 

Jesse turns, grabs his shoulders, and quickly kisses him before whirling around and diving into the waves. 

Lukas is frozen, staring at the place where Jesse vanished. 

He touches his lips. 

Jesse’s tasted like salt water. 

———

Jesse doesn’t show up to their meeting place the next day. 

Or the day after that. 

Or the entire next week. 

Lukas feels lonely. 

He misses Jesse. He misses their conversations, he misses  _ him. _ He even misses his lips, even though that brief kiss was the only one he’d gotten. 

The weeks slowly turn into months. 

There’s another report on the news about another fishing boat for a canned seafood company mysteriously wrecking in clear weather. 

Lukas sighs in relief. 

A reminder that Jesse’s alive out there. 

Later, after he’s brought his nets in for the night and stored his catch, Lukas hears a knock at the door. 

When he opens it, he’s shocked. 

It’s Jesse, and he’s bruised and bleeding badly from his right arm. His nose is bleeding, too. 

“Help me,” he mumbles. “Please.”

Lukas leads him inside and grabs his first aid kit. He knows how to work a needle and thread thanks to his being a fisherman, so he manages to sew up Jesse’s arm. Then he wipes the blood off Jesse’s face and cleans all of the scrapes and bruises. 

“What happened?” He asks. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried—“

“Chasing ships,” Jesse mutters. “I took out a bunch. This last one, I was caught off guard. They were ready for me. I barely managed to capsize it. My pet tiger shark, Reuben…”

Jesse lets out a sob and buries his face in Lukas’s shoulder. 

“You have a pet tiger shark?” Lukas asks, surprised. “You never told me about him.”

“Used to belong to my dad,” Jesse mumbles, tears running down his cheeks. “Helped me capsize boats. This time, when we capsized the boat, I was hurt and I wasn’t able to swim fast enough to stop the harpoons that they shot and then Reuben, he… he…”

Jesse continues to sob, the rest of his words unintelligible. 

But Lukas knows what happened. 

It’s clear from the way Jesse is crying that his pet is dead. 

“It’s gonna be okay,” Lukas murmurs, stroking Jesse’s hair as he cries. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Jesse leaves at dawn. 

———

Two weeks later, at dusk, Lukas goes to their meeting place. 

He’s thinking about the kiss six months ago, and how Jesse’s finally shown his face again. 

But Jesse needed the time to mourn. 

To his surprise, when he ties his boat and wades to shore, Jesse’s waiting for him, a clam shell the size of a dinner table sitting in front of him. On it, there’s cutlery carved from coral, and shell bowls filled with what looks like food. In the center of the table there’s a peanut butter jar filled with glowing plankton. 

“I… ah… wanted to have dinner,” Jesse says, nervously fiddling with his swim shorts. He reaches up to touch the necklace he’s wearing. There’s half an abalone shell on it. 

“Okay,” Lukas says, suddenly feeling that warmth again. 

“I caught a bunch of fish,” Jesse says, opening a pot. “Usually we eat them raw, but I cooked yours.”

Lukas can’t help but laugh as he takes a bite of fish. 

It tastes amazing. 

They eat, talking casually, until Lukas finally asks about the necklace. 

Jesse freezes. 

“It’s… it’s my mom’s,” he blurts.

Lukas raises his eyebrows. 

Jesse sighs and rubs his face in defeat, and reaches into his pocket. 

He pulls out a matching one, except Lukas can clearly see that that’s the other half of the abalone. 

“Abalone shells symbolize love,” Jesse murmurs. “I… I didn’t know when to tell you this, but… but I… fell in love. With you. And I didn’t talk to you for so long because I had to almost completely reevaluate my opinions towards your kind, and I kinda freaked out because I’ve never had feelings like this, and—“

Lukas realizes he’s smiling. 

He finds himself moving around the table and gently pressing a hand over Jesse’s heart. He can feel it beating quickly. 

“I love you too,” he says. 

And then they’re kissing. It’s gentle at first, but it doesn’t stay that way. Jesse’s teeth are sharp, Lukas realizes, as Jesse’s teeth snag on his lip and the taste of blood blooms on his tongue. It’s getting rougher, and the low growling from Jesse and how his hands are everywhere makes his intentions obvious. 

Lukas grins, feeling Jesse trying to pull his shirt over his head. 

He feels light-headed and daring. 

“Come on,” Lukas gasps, pulling away sharply. “We’re going back to my house.”

They scramble back into the boat and head back to the docks. They’re blessed by a strong wind blowing on shore, so they make it in record time. 

Then they’re driving to Lukas’s house, running up the driveway and inside, and then Lukas’s back is pressed against the wall and Jesse’s kissing him again. 

They stumble into Lukas’s bedroom, frantically stripping off their clothes along the way. 

Lukas moans as Jesse growls and bites him, but not hard enough to draw blood. 

Jesse’s hands are everywhere. He’s still hungry after dinner, but it’s another type of hunger, Lukas realizes, spreading his legs and letting Jesse take over. 

It feels so good.

Lukas is gasping and desperate. He feels like he’s drowning, like his arousal is sucking the air out of him, but Jesse’s touches, Jesse’s body, is like oxygen.

But Jesse’s movements, the way he pushes fluidly forward and then draws back, is like the ocean; relentless and unstoppable. He even smells and tastes like it. Like saltwater. And fish, too, but not the rank stench of the area of the docks where the fish were cleaned. It’s fresh and crisp.

And then Lukas is riding a wave of pleasure as he comes, and Jesse pulls back, gasping for breath. 

Jesse’s scaled arms glint in the moonlight flooding through the window. His eyes are glowing with happiness, and the exhilaration on his face is almost succeeding in overwhelming how exhausted he obviously is. 

“That was…”

“Holy shit,” Lukas mumbles, grinning as he rubs his face. “A merman. I just had sex with a goddamn merman.”

And then they’re both laughing breathlessly. 

They finally settle down and figure out sleeping arrangements. Jesse says he’s more comfortable sleeping with his tail rather than legs, so Lukas lets him, and Lukas ends up on his side with Jesse curled up behind him, tail wrapped around his legs and ankles. 

Lukas lazily strokes Jesse’s scales. Now that he’s dry, the beautiful iridescent blue scales feel almost like snakeskin. 

He finally drifts off, wrapped up in his merman’s arms. 

The merman he loves. 

———

Things go back to normal. 

Jesse brings stories from the sea. He’s the first in centuries to court a human, he mentions one day. 

Lukas finally tells his human friends the origins of his necklace and introduces Jesse to them. 

As the weeks, then months, then years pass, Lukas notices that Jesse’s going back to the sea less and less frequently. 

Finally, one day, Jesse stops. 

He stays. 

When Lukas asks, Jesse laughs. 

“I don’t need to,” he says, kissing his hand. “I want to be with you.”

“I love you,” Lukas says, smiling. 

They go out fishing together. 

Lukas gets a deal to promote biodegradable fishing nets, and Jesse starts working at the aquarium. 

Finally, Lukas asks Jesse to marry him, and he says yes. 

Now they’re on their honeymoon, curled up together on Lukas’s fishing boat, anchored far offshore and watching the sun setting on the ocean.

The ocean that they both call home, one way or another. 

“I love you,” Jesse murmurs, stroking Lukas’s cheek.

Lukas smiles. 

He touches the simple wedding ring on his finger, the one that’s identical to his husband’s. 

His beautiful merman husband who can capsize a fishing boat, who can talk to sharks, who can climb mountains and swim faster than a dolphin. 

“I love you too,” he murmurs.


End file.
